Can It Be Done?

[W]hen it comes to military operations you can’t just bracket the
question of feasibility. If the administration’s plan is fatally flawed
and simply leads to several more years of fighting followed by
inevitable withdrawal and Taliban takeover, then we’re not actually
helping anyone. This is why things like Richard Just’s insistence on trying to understand everything through a lens of “realism” versus “idealism” are so annoying. If
the administration has a workable plan to bring stability to
Afghanistan, then implementing that plan will have humanitarian
benefits. But if the plan’s not workable, then it’s not workable, and
it doesn’t matter how idealistic or ambitious you try to make it.

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